SOAP star John Partridge has had a wizard time as a judge on Over The Rainbow, but worries the good times may not last.

The EastEnders actor believes sparks could fly between fellow panellists Charlotte Church and Sheila Hancock as the ­competition hots up.

John, who shot to fame as Walford’s Christian Clarke, told The People: “We all have lots of respect for each other and I am not interested in arguing with Sheila or Charlotte.

“But as of last night’s show I think there will be more chance for us to disagree and I am sure we will.” He added: “Sheila is all about the interpretation, Charlotte is about the singing, and I want the razzle dazzle.

“We are all very opinionated. I think I will probably disagree with Sheila most because interpretation is so personal.

“Her perception of how something should be interpreted and mine could be different.

“She is coming at it from a serious view and sometimes I just want them to forget that. Give me a bit of ‘jazz hands’ and I am happy.”

John, 38, revealed his ­concerns as the hunt for a wannabe star to play Dorothy in a new ­production of The Wizard of Oz gets more and more tense.

The actor was picked as a judge by musical maestro Andrew Lloyd Webber because of his own success in a string of West End shows, including eight years in Cats. However, the decision to appoint John, as well as Charlotte, 24, and 77-year-old Sheila, was controversial ­because of ­rumours the previous panel of Denise Van Outen, 35, and John Barrowman, 43, had been sacked.

The EastEnders star insisted that was nonsense. John said: “They made a decision to have a brand new panel and how that decision was made doesn’t ­concern me.

“I don’t believe anyone was dropped or axed, they just ­wanted a fresh new panel.”

Being a reality show judge was a whole new experience for John, who was used to playing a role rather than being himself on TV.

He admits he found it nerve-racking. John said: “The girls doing the show are nervous, but so was I on the first live show.

“I was nervous about ­giving a ­critique that they can take away and apply.

“People always ask ‘So what judge are you going to be?’ People expect me to be the Simon Cowell or Jason Gardiner of the show but that’s not me at all.

“Up until now any criticism I have received has been about how I have played a character. On this show, this is me sitting there with people judging me for me.

“But I have always been true to myself and what you see is what you get.”

John was born in Bury, Lancs, and started dancing at a young age. When he was 10 he won a place at the Royal Ballet School and was able to attend thanks to a government grant.

Love

He eventually decided he wasn’t cut out to be a ballet ­soloist and turned his attention to musical theatre, joining a touring production of Cats when he was 16.

He went on to star in stage ­musicals including Tommy, Starlight Express, Rent, Grease and The Drowsy Chaperone.

In 2008, he was approached by EastEnders producers for the plum role of Christian.

John said: “If you had asked me two or three years ago if I would be sitting here talking about Over The Rainbow and EastEnders I’d have said no.

“I never look that far ahead. My career has been so organic. I moved from ballet to musicals and then I have crossed over into TV and it’s all taken care of itself in a way.

“I am not ­actively searching for it, I am not going to be one of these people who in six months time says, ‘I am ­going out to LA for pilot season’. That is never, ever going to come out of my mouth.”

John has become a firm ­favourite with EastEnders fans and was voted “sexiest male” in last year’s Inside Soap Awards.

His character, caterer Christian, is caught up in a ­complicated love triangle.

He is having an affair with married Syed Masood (played by Marc Elliott, 30) and their secret is soon to be revealed.

John said: “When I first went into the show, I would have never been able to handle a storyline like this. They were very careful in shaping my story as I grew and got better.

“I will be the first one to admit I went in with no experience and I was playing to the back of the circle and it was over the top.

“You learn as you go and think ‘Oh my God, do I really look like that?’

“I was told when I first went into the show, no one is going to tell you how good or bad you are because there isn’t time, you have to learn for ­yourself. I am a quick learner luckily.

“I think everyone at the BBC in general was concerned about how this storyline would be ­received and if people would come up in arms about it all.

“As much as people think EastEnders just wants to come up with a storyline and be sensational, this was the opposite. There was a moment, after we had filmed the first ­couple of blocks, were it was going to be changed ­because people were that worried about it.

“Nothing had gone out on air yet but we had filmed up to the very first kiss and there was a moment when people thought it may be too contentious.

“So it’s the opposite of what people think, they didn’t go head long in to it without thinking about it, they were very cautious.

Kiss

“And out of that, this became a story about what you didn’t see rather than what you did see. If we did kiss it was cut away very quickly and we were never naked together and they were so clever about it.

“I’d had a screen kiss six months before and there had been outrage.

“Someone said they had thrown their dinner at the television screen. So it was make or break for my character and what they could do with him.

“I will be forever grateful to them for being brave enough to go with it and to be clever enough to shape it in a way that it didn’t offend anyone.”

John, who lives with long-term partner and fellow actor Jon Tsouras in Greenwich, south London, has never been busier – or happier.

He said: “There was a point where I was at EastEnders, ­crying my eyes out as Christian all morning, and then going 20 minutes up the road to Dorothy Farm, where I was all happy and talking about yellow brick roads.

“So I had a split personality for a while.

“But I love it and I am ­learning so much. I want to just keep on going and going.”